Sunday, September 29, 2013

Last September, I did a series on a few of my favorite cakes from Nigel Slater. First up was his delightful Black Banana Cake. That recipe made me forget all about my previous recipes for Banana Cake. Then we indulged in his Cinnamon Pear Cake with Vanilla Fudge Sauce. What a treat. And the third cake of the series was the Plum Pudding Cake that I baked with Reine Claude plums. Delightful.

In October, I moved on to his unbelievably delicious Chocolate Beetroot Cake and in November it was the Beetroot Seed Cake. Who would have thought that baking with beets could be this amazing. Oh, yes, let´s not forget about the Rhubarb Cinnamon Polenta Cake that I blogged about in July - that cake convinced me to start a Nigel Slater cake series in the first place. But now let us move on to this lovely, indulgent, delicious Carrot Cake with Mascarpone and Orange Frosting.

There are so many recipes for Carrot Cake out there and I have baked quite a few over the years. I like to bake my traditional European-style Carrot Cake that contains no flour but lots of ground nuts and warm spices. But then we also really enjoy these double-layered Carrot Cakes like this recipe from Nigel Slater with a creamy frosting.

Since I am a bit in a veggie mode or rather frenzy these days, I bought way too many fresh carrots, again, and decided to incorporate the “raw” carrots into my pictures, for a somewhat whimsical look at Nigel Slater´s delightfully moist, not too sweet carrot cake.

Enjoy baking some wonderful cakes with those delightful veggies. If you do happen to need more inspiration, you could always look at my Cakes & Vegetables series that I did last year – it features not only the recipe for above-mentioned Carrot Cake and the Chocolate Beetroot Cake but also recipes for a Sweet Potato Bundt Cake, Mini Pumpkin Muffins, an Old-fashioned Potato-Raisin Gugelhupf and a Parsnip Spice Cake! So,bake some lovely cakes this fall with all those veggies that are still abundantly available!

Beth, how nice that you like this somewhat whimsical interpretation of or look at Nigel Slater´s Carrot Cake! It is moist, not too sweet and the frosting is a nice indulgent touch. Those carrot tops were a big hit with the kids too! Thank you for the nice comment!

Hi Andrea! What a beautiful cake! I love the raw carrots here. It sounds like you had some delicious cakes over the course of this season...but this might be my favorite. We had carrot cake at our wedding. Thank you for sharing Andrea!

Monet, thanks for the compliment - the kids loved this cake, taste, look and all and the rest of my beloved taste testers thought that it was moist and delicious and not too sweet and also pretty to look at - what more could one want from a Carrot Cake?!

Mary, I know you really adore Nigel Slater and his savory as well as sweet recipes - so it is a real pleasure to read that you enjoy my somewhat "liberal interpretation" of this rather traditional Carrot Cake!

Karen, now you are making me smile - thanks for the wonderful comment. I was not quite sure whether people would like this version of the cake but my kids were absolutely crazy about this cake - and, of course, the carrots are organic and well scrubbed and naturally sweet and all.

Colette, well, if you must know, the carrot tops usually find their way to the rabbits that the girls have - all eleven of them! But this time, they got a "second life" as decorations and graced our delicious carrot cake! Everybody needs a little fun in their lives!Thanks for the lovely comment, dear friend!

loved all those cute carroty food clicks...we just love carrot cakes....the orange and mascarpone frosting is a genius idea,will go so well with the cake,you are brilliant at baking....we feel pleasure learning from your recipes,thanks for the inspiration...HAVE A BEAUTIFUL DAY!!! :-)

Kumar, carrot cake is hard to beat isn´t it?! Thanks for the lovely comment with respect to Nigel Slaters version with the mascarpone and orange frosting - it is nice to bake cakes to please the palate as well as sooth the soul!

I have never tried any of Nigel Slaters recipes and I can tell I have been missing out, this carrot cake looks lovely and moist and I know I will love that frosting! Thanks for listing all the cakes you have already made I am going to have a look now - they all sound so delicious! Love the whimsical carrots on top - very cute :)

Karen, you should give these Nigel Slater cake recipes a try, at least once - his cakes are moist and not overly sweet and always, always different with intriguing flavors - my personal favorite, apart from this Carrot Cake, is the Beetroot Seed Cake!

Geraldine, I know that you would enjoy this cake - I just made another one for guests yesterday, they loved it! Give this recipe a try and if you get a chance to make me it, do let me know how it turned out!

Trishie, so nice to hear from you - glad all is well with the baby - you might like this Carrot Cake, not too sweet, just right and the guests that I served this to yesterday, really enjoyed it as well.

David, the lovely Rhubarb and Polenta Cake is terrific - but you should (if I may say so) give one of the beetroot cakes a try - they are unbelievably delicious and our twelve-year old daughter has declared the Chocolate Beetroot Cake to be her favorite cake of all times!

Your cakes always look delicious! I remember last year I made your fig and walnut cake. It was so very good. When I'm in Memphis next week I hope my sister in law will still have figs so I can make it again! I love Nigel Slater.

Guyla, I certainly remember that Fig and Walnut Cake and I remember that you liked it so much - I will be making it on the weekend - I was waiting for the new harvest walnuts to be available - now they are, so it it time to make that wonderful cake once again.

Kristin, this cake would meet with your approval - I know you do not like to eat sweet things all that much - this cake is definitely not sweet and the sweetness of the frosting is "adjustable" - if you like it a bit sweeter, just add a bit more powdered sugar or less, if you are looking for a less sweet cake! Thanks for stopping by!

Ashley, thank you very much for the nice comment - if you get a chance to make this recipe, you will find it rather easy and straightforward - just made it again a few days ago - it was even better the next day.

oohhh...I love baking with vegetables! Your carrot cake looks picture perfect dear! I checked out your Nigel Slater-creations in the past, they all look stunning and oh so delicious!! I will definitely try one of them :) (probably at first the banana cake, I can't resist a good banana cake!!)Have a wonderful friday sweetie!xox Amy

Amy, you will be a fan too if you start making these veggies cakes - no doubt. I must say that the Chocolate Beetroot Cake is one of our favorites Thanks so much for dropping by, my dear friend - if you get a chance to bake one of these treats, do let me know how you liked it.

I LOOOOVE your bold way to decorate carrot cake! Definitely got my attention with the carrots coming out from the cake. ;) You take such beautiful shots too! It's one of my favorite cake, but I don't have a chance to eat often. So pretty!

Nami, you are such a kind person - I must admit I was not too sure about decorating the carrot cake this way but, in the end, I just loved the way the cake looked liked with those carrot tops sticking out!

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